““Yes, I will drive you out of office,” says the Lord. “I will pull you down from your high position. And then I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah to replace you. I will dress him in your royal robes and will give him your title and your authority. And he will be a father to the people of Jerusalem and Judah. I will give him the key to the house of David—the highest position in the royal court. When he opens doors, no one will be able to close them; when he closes doors, no one will be able to open them. He will bring honour to his family name, for I will drive him firmly in place like a nail in the wall. They will give him great responsibility, and he will bring honour to even the lowliest members of his family.” But the Lord of Heaven’s Armies also says: “The time will come when I will pull out the nail that seemed so firm. It will come out and fall to the ground. Everything it supports will fall with it. I, the Lord, have spoken!””
Isaiah 22:19-25 NLT
In his oracle, Isaiah recorded something very significant about Eliakim. He wrote the words of the Lord down in verse 22 of today’s verses, “I will give him the key to the house of David—the highest position in the royal court. When he opens doors, no one will be able to close them; when he closes doors, no one will be able to open them”. Occasionally, we have a civic ceremony in our towns and cities, where a person, perhaps a sportsman or woman, or a politician or charity worker, is honoured by being presented with the key to the city. In such a ceremony, King Charles III was recently presented with the keys to the city of Edinburgh in the traditional Ceremony of the Keys, marking the official start of Royal Week in Scotland. Such ceremonies usually use an oversized, decorative key which doesn’t open any actual lock. Nor does the ceremony truly bestow special rights. But it is an opportunity to honour someone. The tradition of presenting a key to the city dates back to medieval times. City gates were locked at night to protect residents from outsiders and threats. Gifting a physical key to a visiting noble or trusted individual symbolised open access, deep trust, and freedom to enter and leave at will.
The new leader, Eliakim, was honoured in this way. The Lord declared His intention to grant authority to him, in his new role as palace administrator, the new steward of the king’s court. This man of God and father-figure to the nation would wear the key to the house of David. As with the modern ceremony, this may have involved a physical item representing authority. A man with the key had the authority to decide who would be allowed to have an audience with the king and who would be excluded. The king’s decision to give the key to Eliakim, by the Lord’s will, was a sign of great respect and trust. The one who carried this responsibility exercised authority in the name of the king. Eliakim was the final word on whether the gates remained open or closed.
But there was another time mentioned in the Bible, this time when Jesus applied the Scripture about the key of David to Himself. Revelation 3:7, “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Philadelphia. This is the message from the one who is holy and true, the one who has the key of David. What he opens, no one can close; and what he closes, no one can open”. So perhaps we can see that Eliakim became a wonderful picture of Christ.
Possession of the keys of the house of David signifies absolute authority, and with them, Jesus can open doors that no person can close, and can close doors that no person can open. For us pilgrims, for believers everywhere, it means our confidence in Jesus rests in His sovereign rule over His Kingdom, now and forever.
There is another occasion when keys are mentioned, and we find that in Matthew 16:19,“And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven”. Jesus was talking directly to Peter, and indirectly to the other disciples. Jesus’ words meant that Peter would have the right to enter the kingdom himself, that he would have general authority symbolised by the possession of the keys, and that preaching the gospel would be the means of opening the kingdom of heaven to all believers and shutting it against unbelievers. Although other branches of the Christian faith apply this verse differently, for example, the Catholic and Orthodox traditions see this as the foundational authority given to Peter and his successors (the Popes) and priests to forgive or retain sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, I’m sure that pilgrims of either persuasion will accommodate the Gospel as the outward-looking interpretation of our verse from Matthew.
The preaching of the Gospel is a very good illustration of how the Kingdom of God can be accessed, because the Good News about Jesus and all He did for us pilgrims at Calvary unlocked access to God’s Kingdom for us. Before, we were dying in our sins, with no hope for the future, but when we came to believe in Jesus, we found salvation through God’s grace, and he opened the door into His presence for us. What a wonderful Saviour! Jesus has given each of us the key to unlock this door for everyone we meet. To think that Jesus has entrusted me to do this is a wonderful honour, far more valuable and significant than any civic ceremony in a town or city. No city gate with a ceremonial, but otherwise useless, key can ever match up with a real key that can open the only door that really matters.
If we pilgrims open our hands this morning, can we see the key to God’s Kingdom resting there? If not, we have only to ask God, and He will place it there. There are many duplicates of this key available, and there is one marked with our name. So, the question is: “What am I going to do with this key today?” Just hanging it on the key rack in our hall is not an option. We have access to God’s Kingdom, and with it comes the responsibility of unlocking the door for anyone else who is lost and unable to find it. Perhaps we should pray this prayer today:
Dear Father God. I have in my hand the Key to Your Kingdom. Please lead me today to anyone who is looking for the Door so that I can lead them to it, by sharing Your Good News about Jesus. Thank You. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 